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Star Trek: The Menagerie (Part 2)
"The Menagerie (Part 2)" is the sixteenth episode of season one of the original Star Trek television series. Directed by Robert Butler and written by Gene Roddenberry, it first aired on Thursday, November 24th, 1966 on NBC. It is the second chapter in a two-part episode. Like all episodes from the series, "The Menagerie (Part 2)" was digitally remastered with upgraded visual effects. This version first aired on December 2nd, 2006. The episode is notable for incorporating scenes from the original unaired pilot episode "The Cage" into its storyline. In this episode, the trial of Mister Spock continues as he has Captain Kirk, Captain Pike and Commodore Mendez review incidents that took place on the planet Talos IV thirteen years ago. Synopsis The trial of Mister Spock reconvenes. Commodore Mendez, Captain Pike and Captain Kirk take their seats and Spock continues the video transmission of Pike's original mission to Talos IV. : Captain Pike awakens inside of a transparent cell underground. The Talosian magistrate and two attendees approach Pike's cell. They commune with one another telepathically and Pike can perceive their thoughts. The magistrate Keeper lectures the others on the predictability of human frailty. : Meanwhile, the landing party returns to the ship and calls a meeting. Pike's second-in-command, Number One is in attendance as well as a fresh new Yeoman named J.M. Colt. Having seen the alien who grabbed Captain Pike, Spock offers his own theories as to the nature of these aliens. He deduces that they are telepathic in nature with brains three times the size of a normal human. Doctor Boyce adds to Spock's deduction and illustrates how the Talosians are able to create elaborate illusions in the minds of others. : The Talosians create a mirage of the planet Rigel VII, and Pike finds himself in an all-too-familiar setting. He sees Vina dressed in the gown of a princess, playing the role of an atypical damsel in distress. A beastly, giant known as a Kaylar emerges and advances towards them. Although Pike knows that this is only happening in his mind, he feels compelled to defend Vina. He grapples with the Kaylar and manages to keep him at bay by hitting him with rocks. The Kaylar pushes Pike to the ground, and then chases Vina up the steps of a castle parapet. Pike hurls a sword at the monster, stabbing him in the back. The Kaylar reels in pain and falls off the parapet onto Captain Pike's mace. The illusion ends and Pike and Vina find themselves back in the cell. The transmission pauses and Spock reveals that the Talosians are transmitting these images directly to the ship's computers. They have paused the broadcast because they know that Captain Pike is growing fatigued. Commodore Mendez grows increasingly impatient with Spock. The trial recommences after a brief recess and they resume viewing the broadcast. : In the cell, Vina pleads with Captain Pike to tell her about his dreams. She says that she can become any woman he could ever desire. Pike wants to know if there the Talosians have any vulnerability that he can exploit. Vina calls him a fool. : The Enterprise crew returns to the planet's surface, this time armed with a large laser cannon. They concentrate their fire power on the side of the cliff, but as before, the weapon is having no effect on the environment. : Having satisfied Vina's wishes to some extent, Pike begins to ask her more about the Talosians. She reveals that there was once a great war that left the surface of the planet uninhabitable. Life is only now beginning to come back to Talos IV and the Talosians are seeking two compatible life forms to help repopulate the planet. Suddenly, Vina cries out in immense pain and disappears. She is being punished by the Talosians for revealing too much. The transmission briefly pauses and then resumes. : The Talosian magistrate comes down to the cell and provides Pike with a nutrient drink. She expects him to consume it, but Pike refuses. To punish him, the Talosian creates the illusion in Pike's mind that he is burning to death. Once the image fades, lunges towards the glass and the startled Talosian takes a step back. Pike realizes that the alien couldn't perceive his thoughts at that moment and deduces that the Talosians cannot read primal emotions such as rage and hate. : The Talosians attempt to distract Pike from this thought process by placing more fantasy settings into his head. In the next mirage, he sees himself with Vina having a picnic in his home town of Mojave back on Earth. He presses Vina for more information about the Talosians' vulnerabilities and she confirms what he had suspected - that thoughts of intense hate mentally blind them. : Pike tries to dispel the illusion, only to find himself placed into another. This time, he is at the Orion Colony with a merchant and a Space officer watching an Orion slave girl dancing before him. As the woman turns, Pike sees that it is Vina once again. Frustrated, he gets up and leaves, but Vina trails after him. : Back on the Enterprise, the crew embark upon a third attempt to beam down to the planet to rescue their missing Captain. The Talosians are aware of their plans and use their powers to alter the perceptions of the crew members. They manipulate the transporter chief into only sending Number One and Yeoman Colt down to the surface. As the rest of the crew remains on the transporter pads, Spock exclaims "The women!" : Number One and Yeoman Colt materialize inside the underground cage next to Captain Pike. They train their phasers on the transparent window, but find that they have lost their charge. They discard the seemingly useless weapons just as the Talosian magistrate re-enters the chamber. The Talosian reveals that since Pike is refusing to mate with Vina as they would prefer, they have provided him with two more suitable options in the forms of Number One and Yeoman Colt. They reveal that Number One has her own private fantasies about Captain Pike while the Yeoman's youth has bred a fiery, sexual appetite within her. Both women are embarrassed by this revelation. The magistrate leaves the three of them to get some rest. : Later, the magistrate attempts to sneak into the cage to recover the discarded phasers. Captain Pike pounces on top of the alien and begins throttling the Keeper. He theorizes that there is nothing wrong with their phasers at all and that the Talosian has simply led them to believe that they are inoperable. He threatens to test his theory by placing the weapon against the Talosian's head. The Keeper relents and reveals that the weapons are fully operational. There is even a large hole in the glass from where Number One and Yeoman Colt fired upon it earlier. The transmission abruptly ceases. Even Mister Spock doesn't understand why the Talosians have ceased sending the images. Commodore Mendez calls for a vote. Mendez and Pike both submit a verdict of guilty. Kirk contemplates his options for a moment, but finally renders a vote of guilty against Mister Spock. As the Enterprise reaches the Talos Star Group, the transmission continues. : With the magistrate under the control, they go back up to the surface. Number One sets her phaser to overload, which would produce an explosion that would wipe them all out unless the Talosian agrees to let them go. The magistrate understands now that human beings are too violent of a species for their needs. They decide to let Captain Pike go. Pike also learns that Vina is an actual human being and not merely another illusion. As the one true survivor of the SS Columbia, Vina is considerably older than Captain Pike and horrifically disfigured because of the crash. Before leaving, Pike asks the Talosians to restore Vina's illusion of beauty. The Talosians comply and they create the belief that Pike has chosen to stay on Talos IV to be with her. Pike and the others return to the Enterprise and they resume their course to the Vega Colony. The transmission finally concludes, but as Kirk gets up, he sees Commodore Mendez disappear in front of his very eyes. The image of the Keeper appears on the video screen and confesses that the Commodore's presence aboard the Enterprise was just an illusion. The Talosians believed that the fiction of a court martial was necessary to distract Kirk from trying to regain control of the ship. The Keeper indicates that Captain Pike is welcome to spend the remainder of his days on Talos IV, unfettered by his physical handicaps. The Talosian then broadcasts the same transmission to the real Commodore Mendez at Starbase 11. After reviewing the images and in recognition of Captain Pike's historic service record, he suspends Starfleet General Order 7 prohibiting contact with the Talosians for this one occasion. All charges against Mister Spock are dropped. Kirk asks Captain Pike if this is what he truly wants and Pike indicates "Yes". He has Spock bring Pike down to the transporter room to beam him over to Talos IV. As the two leave, the voice of the Keeper comes back over the monitor. The Talosian smiles at Kirk and tells him, "Captain Pike has an illusion. And you have reality. May you find your way as pleasant." Cast Principal Cast Guest Stars Notes & Trivia * Stardate: 3013.1 - 3013.2 * Production code number: 6149-16B * The events from this episode take place in the year 2267. * Robert Butler is credited as the director of this episode, but was only responsible for directing the original pilot episode "The Cage". The director for this specific episode was Marc Daniels who went uncredited. * Includes a recap of events from "The Menagerie (Part 1)". * The majority of this episode is comprised of colorized excerpts from the original unaired pilot episode, "The Cage". * All of the closing credit stills for this episode are taken from "The Cage". * The Keeper generates the illusion of turning into an Anthropoid ape. An actual representation of this creature was shown as a captive in the Talosian menagerie in "The Cage". Those scenes were not shown in "The Menagerie". * James Doohan and DeForest Kelley make a brief appearance in the opening scene in the episode, but this is actually just recap footage from "The Menagerie (Part 1)". They are both credited with making an appearance in this episode though neither actor actually appears in the second half. * Jeffrey Hunter and Susan Oliver are credited as special guest stars even though they only appear in archival footage from "The Cage". * Actress Majel Barrett is credited as M. Leigh Hudec in this episode. In "The Cage", she was credited as Majel Barrett. The change may have been done to avoid confusing the viewers who might recognize Barrett's name as the character Nurse Christine Chapel. * Actress Nichelle Nichols makes a behind-the-scenes appearance in this episode. Only her voice can be heard. The only other episode of the series where Nichols provided her voice, but did not otherwise appear was episode 1x05, "The Enemy Within". See also External Links * * * "The Menagerie (Part 2)" at Wikipedia * "The Menagerie (Part 2)" at Memory Beta * "The Menagerie (Part 2)" at Memory Alpha * * * References ---- Category:1966/Episodes Category:Episodes with plot summaries